


Blank Sheet

by SlumberingDragons



Series: The Blood on our Hands [1]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: A Winter Soldier AU, F/M, Gen, He still refuses the dark side, Palpatine got Luke
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-23
Updated: 2020-02-23
Packaged: 2021-02-28 01:35:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,679
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22855603
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SlumberingDragons/pseuds/SlumberingDragons
Summary: Vader has a mission, but he isn't the first one to reach the target. Instead he faces a Blank Sheet and a story that might set his own ambitions to end Palpatine's rule into an early move.
Relationships: Luke Skywalker & Darth Vader, Mara Jade/Luke Skywalker
Series: The Blood on our Hands [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1648108
Comments: 13
Kudos: 45





	Blank Sheet

**Blank Sheet**

* * *

  
When Lord Darth Vader sensed the enormous power shift in the Force, he was ready to strike. His Master had sent him to eliminate a Force User, a lost Padawan at best that had stolen from the Empire under their noses, but he didn't expect that kind of power. It was tranquil and felt subdued on the surface but when he pushed it lashed out angrily. Unshielded yet strong enough to defend his or her mind. His lightsaber ignited with the characteristic _snap-hiss_ as he used the Force to blast the door that stopped him to reach his target. Vader let the Force come to him to strike down yet another of the blasted remains of the Jedi but stopped at the sight of a red blade and a dead man on the feet of its wielder. The room was barely illuminated, shrouding them into shadows, with only the faint ceiling light and the red of their sabers painting the room that looked like it once had been some kind of operative base. 

Vader wanted to growl. His respirator strained to push in much-needed Oxygen as he clenched his teeth. Who was this stranger to wield the weapon of a Sith, when he clearly was blank to the force, neither light nor dark? This reeked of Palpatine's scheming. Vader looked the man over. Even with his red tainted vision and little light he saw that the other, that still hadn't turned around to face him, had fair hair, he guessed it might even be a sandy blond. The other was wearing mostly trooper armor that had seen better days, yet he was no clone nor simple foot soldier. The armor looked like it was cut by all kinds of weapons and pieced back together like it would still offer protection.   
The most startling thing was that the entire left arm was a prosthetic, bared of any armor at all. The silver-plated metal resembled a real arm good enough but Vader just could feel that underneath the plating was just wires and servos.   
The Sith Lord was unnerved of the stillness of the man, and the Force screamed at him in warning. 

"Who are you?" Vader asked, trying to get the other Force user to act, but the young man, small the Dark Lord noted, yet trained and strong even beyond his Force powers, did not respond to him. That blunt gesture was reason enough for Vader to want to strike down the stranger. 

"He won't answer you, Lord Vader." A voice, someone the Sith Lord despised just for her existence, snarled as she stepped into the room behind him. She walked around him, her eyes set on the other Force-sensitive in the room and for a moment Vader thought she would kill the man on her own.

"Jade." He retorted and she huffed as she stepped up to the armored man, prying the saber he wielded out of his hand. Vader watched with interest how the other didn't even try to keep on the weapon as it faded and put on her belt.

" _Master_ Palpatine did not need to send you here. He knows we are capable enough to take these bastards out." She hissed at him, her green eyes blazing with fury and Vader bathed in her anger, welcomed it just like it was fueling him. 

"It seems like he didn't trust you enough. You and your pet are only second to my abilities." He provoked and Jade's anger grew. It grew so much that it affected her partner who whirled around and got into a ready stance. Vader was amused by that gesture. Did that youngling really think he could take a master in the Dark Side on without so much as a weapon? At least he could see into the face of the unyielding presence of the other Force-sensitive. It was masked up to the bridge of the nose with something that looked like a muzzle. Vader wondered if it was actually of any use or if Palpatine thought it to be a sick joke.   
But the eyes… were blank. They were just as fair, maybe blue if his vision didn't taint them, but they were completely void of any emotions, thoughts or anything that could betray him. Vader once again wanted to growl, the blankness was something he would have imagined to see in a perfect Jedi, but the boy, because the Force whispered to him about the Youth of the Force-sensitive in front of him, was no Jedi.   
Jade snapped something in a language that only she and her partner understood and the boy suddenly crumpled to a knee and bowed his head to her. 

"It seems you have him on a tight leash, Jade. Your pet is strong in the Force, yet Palpatine doesn't want him, and instead gave him to you? What did you do to deserve such a reward, little Hand?" He taunted and she laughed at him. 

"Nothing. I did absolutely nothing to deserve his loyalty, Vader. And I am going to tell you a tale, Lord Vader, so take time to listen closely. This is the tale of a young girl and a boy who once should become a superior _you_ , yet he ended up less than even a slave. So, get comfortable, because after we are done, you will revision _your Master_." She spat darkly and Vader huffed, not interested in what she had to tell him. Jade was nothing more than a splinter under his nails for all he cared. Yet the Force strongly suggested listening. He put himself more into a Parade Rest, ready to attack if he must, but his saber hissed as the blade disappeared. He watched Jade command her partner to sit, as she inspected him carefully like he was a droid that she had started to care for more than she should.

"Palpatine got him from Tatooine. I was told that he was barely a few weeks old when the Inquisitor sensed him and took him in. He is two years older than me, yet when I try to remember what we were like in our childhood I can only see him smiling. Palpatine called him just his heir or boy, whatever suited him better. I called him Lukka because it was what the Force suggested. Old…"

"Old Nubian for light. I know that Jade. And Sidious wouldn't have been happy about that name, would he?" He interrupted her but Jade didn't lash out as she took off a plate of the armor the boy wore and inspected it with careful eyes. She traced the new edge within it that was caused by the fallen Padawan's blade. 

"Oh, he thought it was funny enough. He even told me to keep on my foolish attempts to give the boy a name. Told me that names had power where he came from, that they were the only thing that even slaves owned. _Sidious_ himself doesn't know Lukka's true name. He became Lukka, and I was Mara to him, as Palpatine was forthcoming with my name. Luke and I began training together. Palpatine thought to give Lukka time to grow in his powers would make it easy to push him to the Darkness, yet Lukka was true to his name and was the light I clung to. Even when we separated and Master focused his training on him, and Lukka would come back beaten within every inch of his life. He never turned. Not even when I begged him to give in."

"Where is your point, Jade? I grew impatient with your tale." Vader huffed, and she glared at him as she took off more of the armor the boy wore. Behind the mask, Vader raised a hairless brow as the boy only wore a top underneath, and even that was mostly destroyed. Normally he should be outfitted with an under-armor or at least a uniform beneath the plating. The pale skin underneath it was covered in scars, and it reminded Vader of his own. Most prominent were the dark scars of where lightning had etched itself on the boy's body. It took a lot for Vader not to bodily react to his Master's handiwork. 

"Lukka and I were pitted against each other. The Emperor wanted to select which of us would be his new hand. He was stronger than I am, he always fought, fought the Inquisitors, fought to keep them off my track, he protected me and told me that I was worth it. And then Sidious pitted us against each other and he beat me within seconds. It was the first time that Lukka was given a real blade, and Sidious had planned to draw him to the Dark with killing me. But Lukka refused, threw the very blade that he could hang on his belt if he accepted and stepped back from me. Sidious stroke him down right there, cutting off his arm, and let him be dragged away by the guards. He then took notice in me and smiled that creepy smile. _He gave his life to you Jade. Once he received his punishment, his life is in your hands. You will get what you deserve_." She told and her voice quivered as she took a shuddering breath, trying to control her anger that came with the memory. She slowly pried the mask of the boy's face and put something in his hands. The gesture was almost lovingly, as she was caring for him beyond brothers and sisters in arms should feel. She mumbled something in his ear and the blue-eyed boy began to eat, still looking dead to the world around him. It looked mechanical.

"I continued my training. Lukka was gone, even whatever kind of bond we had was closed off. He never tried to reach for me, and I never reached for him because we were trained to believe that every other Inquisitor or Hand would fight us to remain useful to our master. And then, two years ago, Sidious returned Lukka to me. They had rigged him with the arm, and he was dead to the world. Eyes blank, nothing left of him but a shell. _He outlived his use to me. Not turning, but still too powerful to throw away. I promised I would return him to you, Jade. He is yours to command, and he comes with his own set of controls. He is your blade, your hound._ " She growled and gestured to the lightsaber at her belt, that hung right next to her very own that Palpatine had given to her. Vader had never agreed for her to wield it as Jade was prone to insubordination concerning him, and he would rather have not another wannabe Sith-student trying to fight for his position. 

"He only reacts to his designation. They took his name and made him a machine. SKY-02, Palpatine named him. At the very beginning, they couldn't completely control him. He would lash out because these who held him down were all Force Sensitive and Sidious had programmed the need to attack them within him. He wouldn't listen to my command either and our Master was amused watching me struggle against him until he grew tired of it and used his lightning until Lukka shut down and drooled on the floor. His resistance grew weak with every following attempt and he learned that following my orders was the only thing that would not cause him pain. I allowed him to live for a moment when we were on missions. But every time we came back, Palpatine insisted that Lukka would go with him and he returned with new lightning scars. And that is our tale, Lord Vader. Of the girl that now holds the leash of a broken boy."

"SKY-02?" Vader asked curiously and the boy's eyes snapped to him in reaction, ready to comply. Jade hissed at him and the boy returned to his meal. 

"Why yes, Lord Vader, as your designation is SKY-01. Did you know that Palpatine had given you that designation in case he needed you as a puppet just as he made Lukka into one?" She revealed and Darth Vader stiffened. 

"What do you know, girl?" He demanded to know but she smiled chokily as she snapped at her partner who dropped everything and stood at heel, his presence blazing within the Force. He was ready to strike at her command and Vader knew that this might be a battle he would want to avoid the very second. And when he looked the boy once again into the eyes there was a glint of something. It seemed that even beyond the torture and blankness there was still a spark of something that would rebel if the chance was given. 

"I know that with every second we stay away from his presence, he, my Lukka, will grow stronger and even if he will never be the boy I remember again, he will be the one who will free us from our leashes."

"That sounds like treason, Jade. But humor me, what will you do when he asks you to leave him, to no longer be his owner."

"I know of your hatred for slavers, Vader, and I might be bold to tell you, that I share this view. I will give him his name back, and let him go if he ever frees himself from his shackles enough to regain his own will. Until then it is my responsibility to make sure he will stay alive. To protect him where he once protected me." She huffed and reassembled the worn armor over Lukka's chest. Scars, hidden from view once again, but they were still seen on the protective plates. The armor wasn't white or black as it was standard with the Imperium, it was littered with colors like the Clones ones used to do. Clearly, it was Jade's work, but it put a personality to the young one. For Palpatine this boy might be a blank sheet of paper, to form at its wielder's will, but Vader saw the armor, that the young one wasn't blank anymore. He was littered with minimal dots of colors, but if you move away far enough, put distance between them, one could see the painting that was once there and was slowly returning or redoing itself.

To say he was surprised by a sudden shift in the Force was exaggerated when the Force warned him of something. He saw Jade move, slashing the cheek of her partner and drawing blood as she pressed it against the fresh wound to coat the small knife with it, only to throw the bloody knife at Vader's feet. Lukka didn't flinch at the sudden pain, too used to it according to the story, and the redhead put a small bacta patch over it before she fastened his muzzle again. Vader was once again put off of her behavior when she pulled Lukka's head on her level and put a quick kiss to the boy's forehead. 

"I trust you to get some answers with that blood. Palpatine kept secrets from all of us, and I want to know who Lukka was supposed to be, so when he is ready to be himself, that he knows what he could do. And I trust you to call us when you put an end to his terror." She said and then barked a command and the boy fell in step beside her as they went. The very moment the armored slave brushed him accidentally a bond between them snapped in place. The young one glanced at him, as to challenge Vader to attack him through that bond, but the Dark Lord didn't. It was a gesture of defiance that he hadn't seen the whole time Jade had told their story. He heard the roar of wanting to live like an echo and it echoed within Vader himself just as loud. 

Vader could only stare after them, bloody knife in hand, as the two figures vanished into the darkness. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading.  
> This idea has been around for a while now. I might extend it, but for now it it a One-Shot.


End file.
